Bai Qi rode the Qiongqi, a flying dragon, while Zhou Yan's White Tiger had not yet awakened. However, Zhou Yan felt that the White Tiger, which had been sleeping for several months, would likely awaken soon.
Bai Qi was the marshal of the Flying Dragon Legion, accompanied by four generals: Meng Tian, Wei Yixiao, Xiao Siyue, and Dian Wei.
"Lord, are we capturing these mounts to prepare them for the [Guanghan Fairy]?" Dian Wei asked.
"It doesn't really matter if they have mounts or not, because they can control flying swords themselves. They just need their cultivation to reach above the fiftieth heaven to fly," Zhou Yan replied.
The [Guanghan Fairy]'s profession was already that of cultivators. They could control flying swords and fly, but having a mount would increase their combat power.
The territory had already captured so many soldiers. Once their loyalty was completely secured, these soldiers would take over the city defenses in the future. Moreover, their numbers were substantial.
Although the territory was vast, it didn't need seventy to eighty thousand troops to garrison it. Zhou Yan believed that few monsters could break through the territory's defense towers.
The ten-kilometer distance was not far. Before they reached their destination, they saw a flock of fiery red phoenix birds flying in the distance.
Normally, any flying creatures would have been scared away by the sight of their flying dragons and would not dare to approach.
However, this flock of phoenix birds was different. Upon seeing the Flying Dragon Legion, they not only showed no fear but also began to caw loudly, as if trying to drive them away and keep them from their airspace.
This airspace belonged to the phoenix birds' habitat. Ordinary flying creatures dared not approach. They possessed the bloodline of phoenixes and were in no way inferior to these sub-dragons, hence they were not afraid.
"Wait a moment, don't go any closer," Zhou Yan instructed the Flying Dragon Legion to halt.
"Lord, why don't we go and capture them?" Dian Wei asked.
"The Lord is letting those phoenix birds call for their companions," Xiao Siyue replied.
Dian Wei curiously asked, "Why wait for them to call their companions? After we capture them, we can simply search for more."
"Wouldn't that be too slow? Letting them gather themselves is much faster than us searching everywhere," Meng Tian also chimed in.
"Oh, I see." Dian Wei nodded.
A moment later, large flocks of phoenix birds flew over. These phoenix birds were very fast, their bodies covered in fiery red feathers. They looked particularly extraordinary and beautiful, like clusters of flames dancing in the air.
Their calls were clear and pleasant to the ear, like a choir of singers.
However, they were not friendly and charged towards the Flying Dragon Legion.
"Everyone get ready, be careful," Zhou Yan warned, telling everyone to be prepared to capture them at any moment.
To better capture these phoenix birds, Zhou Yan had specifically purchased items for this purpose: a special type of fishing net that was immune to fire and could best restrain these phoenix birds.
The phoenix birds were incredibly fast, like streaks of fire, attacking Zhou Yan and his men.
"Scatter!" Bai Qi began to issue orders. Everyone dispersed, filling the entire sky with the Flying Dragon Legion.
As the phoenix birds approached the Flying Dragon Legion, they spat flames from their mouths. Bai Qi and the others were already aware of the phoenix birds' characteristics, which was the main reason Bai Qi had ordered the Flying Dragon Legion to spread out.
The speed of the flying dragons was no less than that of the phoenix birds. Both were descendants of top-tier divine beasts.
When the phoenix birds got close, the soldiers riding the flying dragons launched a giant net and fired it towards them.
"Whoosh!"
Giant nets enveloped the phoenix birds, binding them securely.
The phoenix birds struggled and spewed fire, trying to break free from the giant net's restraint. However, this fiery net was specifically purchased by Zhou Yan for them. No matter how much the phoenix birds struggled, they could not break free in a short period.
"Haha, come with me, you rascal." Dian Wei captured a phoenix bird and then threw out another item.
This item landed on the phoenix bird's body and immediately exploded, forming a cloud of smoke. After inhaling it, the phoenix bird struggled for a while before quickly falling asleep.
These drugs were potent and powerful. Even these phoenix birds could be rendered unconscious for about half an hour.
The soldiers quickly used pet scrolls on them and sealed them away.
The sleeping phoenix birds were thus taken away, one by one.
Thousands of phoenix birds were all captured by Zhou Yan and his men, turned into pets, and sealed. They continued flying forward, using the same method to capture more phoenix birds.
They aimed to capture at least one hundred thousand phoenix birds this time.
This was provided that there were enough phoenix birds in this area. If not, Zhou Yan would simply move to another location. There were plenty of places on the Lord Continent where phoenix birds lived.
"Lord, some tribes have been discovered," at this moment, Si Teng transmitted a message to Zhou Yan.
"Oh, send me the information and images," Zhou Yan landed on a mountaintop.
"Okay."
A while later, Si Teng sent the information to Zhou Yan. Zhou Yan looked at the message and found that this area was inhabited by many tribes with numerous buildings that could be collected.
Besides buildings, there were also defense towers and the like.
This was a werewolf tribe. The werewolves had wolf heads and human bodies. The entire tribe consisted of only tens of thousands of members. There were also other races within, likely slaves of the werewolves, forced to construct the various facilities of the werewolf tribe.
"We have discovered at least hundreds of such tribes with our reconnaissance aircraft," Si Teng informed Zhou Yan and then asked, "Marshal Sun Wu has asked if we should attack or ignore them?"
"Annex them. Since we have encountered them, let's take them all. The territory is still vast and requires a lot of buildings and population."
"The Lord coming to the Lord Continent is inherently about war and plunder. Since we have encountered these enemies, they must either surrender or be annihilated," Zhou Yan replied.
"Understood, Lord. In addition to these tribes, we have also discovered large mineral deposits in the vicinity," Si Teng continued.
"It seems the resources here are quite good," Zhou Yan smiled and then said, "Tell Sun Wu to annex all these tribes and dispatch people to collect all the resource mines."
"Okay."
Si Teng conveyed the message to Sun Wu. After understanding the information, Sun Wu immediately dispatched various legions to eliminate these tribes.
With their strength, it was too easy to eliminate these weak tribes.
Upon receiving the orders, the legions immediately sprang into action.
There were many tribes scattered everywhere. Large tribes had tens of thousands of members, while smaller ones had hundreds to thousands. The distance between each tribe was not great.
The territory was now vast, with over two million people, which was not enough to meet the needs of the entire territory. Therefore, a large population was required.
Regardless of race, the territory needed them. As long as these tribes surrendered, they could become members of the territory.